Posts Tagged ‘Bill de Blasio’

New York City has another husband-and-wife team helping to run the city with the disclosure that Rikki Klieman, the wife of Police Chief Bill Bratton, plans to go to community meetings with him and will use her connections through her appearance on CBS as a legal analyst to his advantage.

The husband and wife duo, reported by The New York Daily News, follows the Bill and Chirlane act of Mayor Bill deBlasio, formerly known as William Wilhelm Jr. and later as Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm. His wife Chirlane McCray wants her own office inside City Hall , complete with her own staff.

Police Chief Bratton’s wife is a former trial lawyer and insists her connections will help Bratton’s attempts to improve relations with the city’s black community.

Joe Lhota woke up this week with a fresh burst of energy as he kicked off the last two weeks of his campaign to discourage voters from voting for Bill de Blasio. In a speech in front of a real estate group Wednesday morning, Mr. Lhota ratcheted up his charge that Bill de Blasio, if elected, will take the city in a “tried and failed” direction.

“My opponent will tell you that he understands your concerns, and behind closed doors he’ll tell you things that are the complete opposite of his public rhetoric,” said Mr. Lhota. “When he does this, I want all of you to remember one thing — one thing, when Bill de Blasio tells you that he understands the concerns of New York City’s business leaders: Bill de Blasio is not a leader; he has never managed anything.”

“Don’t take my word for it. Just ask former Mayor David Dinkins, Bill’s former boss. In his own words, David Dinkins recently said Bill de Blasio “has never run anything” in his life, ” Mr Lhota went on.

“Despite eight years on the City Council and four years as Public Advocate, New York City has little to show for Bill de Blasio’s 12 years in elected office. Why? Bill de Blasio is not a leader. The dark days of the 1980s are where Bill de Blasio learned the ropes. The problem is, he learned all the wrong lessons. In Bill’s view, the New York City of David Dinkins and 2,000 murders a year was a success story, while the progress of the last 20 years is, in his words, “unacceptable.” This is the central idea of Bill de Blasio’s campaign, an idea that is the opposite of tried and true: it’s tried and failed,” he charged.

Speaking to reporters following the speech, Mr. Lhota sought to use as many zingers and punch lines possible to double down on Mr. de Blasio, as he had begun to do at Tuesday night’s debate.

“I mean, he talks a good game, but boy, he can’t even get into the first inning, because once you go past and ask any type of a detailed question, it’s ‘blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,’” he said of Mr. de Blasio.

“Did you miss me?” Mr. Lhota responded with a devilish smirk when asked by a Capital New York reporter about his new aggressive style during a scrum with reporters after the speech. “I’m back!”

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” he said when pressed on where he’d gone. “I went into the debate last night loose, not worried, wanting to have a conversation with my opponent, with the people at home, sitting watching television. And that’s what I did … I prepared to do what I’ve done my entire life: speak my mind, don’t anyone put words in my mouth and just put the issues out there.”

“This all started with my opponent tagging me with Rudy Giuliani. Rudy Giuliani this, Rudy Giuliani that. That’s fine. I’m inextricably linked to Rudy Giuliani,” he said. “But if that’s the direction he wants to go in, I want to remind everybody that he worked for the biggest failure of a mayor that’s ever hit the shores of the City of New York. David Dinkins was an abysmal failure right from the get-go. And so if he wants to talk about my experience working in the prior administration, I’ll talk about his experience in the prior administration and how dangerous this city was from [the Dinkins' administration] lack of action.”

Earlier on the campaign trail in Brooklyn, Joe Lhota, the Republican nominee for mayor, participated in a Jewish Press forum, along with his Republican primary opponents. Here are Lhota’s responses to issues that are of particular concern to the city’s Jewish community.

Questions for Bill de Blasio

Earlier on the campaign trail in Brooklyn, Bill de Blasio, the Democratic nominee for mayor, participated in a Jewish Press forum, along with his Democratic primary opponents. Here are de Blasio’s responses to issues that are of particular concern to the city’s Jewish community.

Bill de Blasio intervened in in charges against a teacher at his daughter’s school and who protesting Israel’s policies in Gaza in 2004 and helped him avoid a jail term, The New York Daily News reported Sunday.

Documents that now are available show that while de Blasio, leading candidate for mayor, was a city councilman, he turned to the Manhattan District Attorney to help Steve Quester, a first-grade teacher, avoid going to prison on charges that he and another dozen demonstrators blocked traffic.

“I mourn his death,” Mr. Lhota told a group down in Chinatown, “but I also know he’s made statements that, at the time, were unfortunate.”

“Why Lhota would deem it necessary to add such a wholly unnecessary and disrespectful qualification is puzzling,” the editorial inquired.

Councilman David Greenfield lashed out at the Republican candidate for Mayor. “What?! Who the heck are you — Who the heck are you, Joe Lhota, to opine about one of the greatest Gedolim (sages) of our time? Completely outrageous,” Mr. Greenfield yelled in dismay.

“So why is he doing this? Because he wants to pander to the secular media,” he exclaimed.

Michael Fragin, who serves as a consultant and Jewish adviser to Joe Lhota, explained that Mr. Lhota was responding to a question asked by a reporter about the criticism of Mr. de Blasio’s comment. “He gave a straight answer with regard to that. But that doesn’t distract at all that he felt anguished that many people in New York were in mourning,” he said.

Joe Lhota stopped in Williamsburg Monday night, to express solidarity with the shop owners that are being sued by the City’s Human Rights Commission for posting a dress code sign for shoppers. “I am supporting you,” Mr. Lhota told the owners of Gestetner Printing on Lee Avenue. “I want to make sure that you’re treated properly. It is very important.”

At a wine tasting and fundraiser event in Manhattan Tuesday night, Mr. de Blasio was hailed for standing up and not backing down amid the criticism.

“Bill promptly acknowledged this great loss,” said Mr. Noe in his introduction of Mr. de Blasio. “The critics, who find the bad in everything, started bashing Bill, but Bill doesn’t back off what he knows is right and stood his ground.”

Bill de Blasio may well be measuring the drapes of Gracie Mansion as a new poll shows him with a commanding 44 point lead over his Republican rival, less than 30 days to Election Day. Joe Lhota actually has a 43/38 favorable view among Jewish voters, but it doesn’t translate into votes. De Blasio leads Lhota among Jewish voters 61-26.

De Blasio may have received a major boost among Jewish voters, as Anthony Weiner told Capital NY, Friday, that he’s endorsing Mr. de Blasio for mayor. “I’m supporting bdb,” Weiner emailed back. “No one has asked nor do they need to.”

Is there a single voter out there who would switch from one candidate to the other based on an Anthony Weiner endorsement? Well, if there is, do not friend him!

As of 3 AM, NY time, Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio stood to pick up a little over the 40 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s primary election, and so avoid the runoff. Otherwise, he’ll be facing the next best Democrat, Bill Thompson, who collected 26 percent. Christine Quinn, the obvious heir apparent to Mayor Bloomberg, who led in the polls since last Shavuos came in third with only 15 percent.

Indefatigable texter Anthony Weiner ended up with only 5 percent, after leading the pack in the summer—before he was exposed again, literally. So NYC Democrats, second in overall liberalism and promiscuity only to SF Democrats, still would not pick a perv for high office. There’s still hope for all of us!

No such confusion on the Republican side (with about a sixth of the number of registered voters the Democrats boast). Joseph Lhota has won the GOP mayoral primary, with 52 percent, ahead of John Catsimatidis who received 41 percent.

Meanwhile, in the Democratic city comptroller race, Scott Stringer beat the other perv in Tuesday’s primaries, former governor Eliot Spitzer, by 52 percent to 48 percent. Sigh of relief anyone? On my mark…

There will definitely be a runoff in the Democratic primary for public advocate between my state Senator Daniel Squadron and City Councilwoman Letitia James. NY1 reports that, with more than 96 percent of precincts reporting, James had 36 percent of the vote and Squadron had 33 percent. May I express here my unabashed support for Squadron, a Democrat who combines two rare qualities in politics: he’s both honest and effective.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes was defeated by challenger Ken Thompson. Hynes, in his post as Brooklyn DA since 1989, received only 44 percent of the vote, Thompson slid over him with 45 percent. Those meetings with all those rebbes totally paid off.

That’s it for now. We’ll update this item as soon as we know in case the Dems are having a runoff, and where you should show up next to vote.

Bill de Blasio has turned around the election polls one day before the real vote and has a chance to win Tuesday’s election without a run-off, according to the new and last pre-elections survey conducted by Quinnipiac University.

De Blasio won 39 percent of the respondents’ support, one percent point short of the minimum 40 percent to avoid a second round. In number two place is Bill Thompson, with 25 percent, followed by former front runner Christine Quinn, with only 18 percent.

A Quinnipiac poll last week gave de Blasio 43 percent, and Thompson appeared to have won more backing at de Blasio’s expense in the election eve survey.

Anthony Weiner hardly ranks a mention, and former governor Eliot Spitzer is far behind Scott Stringer in the race for comptroller. Stringer has a seven-point percent lead.